Australian beekeeper/pollination specialist Trevor Monson, a second-generation beekeeper, and his son, Jonathan and nephew Reece spent several hours last week at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road at the University of California, Davis. They conferred with native bee pollination specialist Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, and pollination ecologist Neal Williams, associate professor of entomology.

Monson and his wife, Carolyn, and family of Victoria are bee pollination brokers and the largest in Australia--they broker 100,000 hives to growers. They own Monson's Honey and Pollination. Trevor is one of Australia's most frequently quoted bee experts. "His expertise is sought after at all levels of farming, forestry,industry, research, policy-making and government advisory bodies, such as the current Honey Bee Research Commission," according to a recent legislative report.

Trevor, Jonathan and Reece must have felt right at home beneath the eucalyptus trees (native to Australia) but not at home with varroa mites, which are reportedly in every hive in the United States but haven't reached Australia yet. Among beekeepers worldwide, the blood-sucking varroa mite is considered Public Enemy No. 1.

Thorp showed them a male and female Valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa varipuncta) and their nest, a chunk of sawed-off apple tree felled in Davis and transported to the Laidlaw facility. The blond, green-eyed male and the solid black female drew their attention.

The trio also toured the nearby Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly garden operated by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. They admired the ceramic mosaic sculpture of a six-foot-long worker bee that anchors the garden. The sculpture, "Miss Bee Haven," is the work of self-described "rock artist" Donna Billick of Davis, co-founder and co-director of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program.

During their weeklong stay in California, they met with a number of beekeepers and representatives of the bee and almond industries.

Officials organizing the 42nd annual Almond Conference are gearing up for their three-day event, which takes place Tuesday, Dec. 9 through Thursday, Dec. 11 in the Sacramento Convention Center.

In a message to the attendees, Richard Waycott, president and CEO of the Almond Board of California (ABC), says the industry is facing unprecedented challenges, as California's severe drought continues.

The agenda encompasses a variety of topics, including

"State of the Industry"

"Almond Quality: Everything You Want to Know About Retaining Almond Crunch and Flavor"

The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology will be represented by Frank Zalom, distinguished professor and integrated pest management specialist (he just finished a term as president of the 7000-member Entomological Society of America); Neal Williams, associate professor; and Extension apiculturist (emeritus) Eric Mussen.

Zalom and Williams will discuss their ABC-funded research while Mussen will address honey bee issues. In addition, Mussen will be honored at the Dec. 10 noon luncheon for his 38 years of service to the almond/bee industries. He retired in June.

Mussen will be among the four speakers at the Pollination Update on Thursday morning, Dec. 11. Others are Dennis vanEngelsdorp, University of Maryland; Gabriele Ludwig, ABC; Christi Heintz of Project Apis m; and Gordon Wardell of Paramount Farming. Bob Curtis of ABC will moderate.

They will expand on this text (from the agenda): "Bees, along with other pollinators, have consistently been in the media, particularly in the past two years. Almonds, as the largest user of pollination services, are often mentioned as possibly impacted by compromised honey bee health. Are almond growers doing everything possible to ensure that almonds are a good and safe place for honey bees? This session will provide an overview of the research and issues affecting honey bee health, how ABC has and continues to be engaged in this issue and an introduction to the updated best management practices for honey bees in California almonds."

That afternoon, research takes front and center in a panel moderated by Gabriele Ludwig of ABC. For more than 40 years, ABC's research programs have advanced yields, quality, and environmental stewardship, contributing to the growth and success of the industry, Ludwig points out. ABC-funded research has helped "to identify areas of opportunity and success through all parts of the growing life cycle."

Also known as a squash bee, it is an important pollinator of cultivated crops of squash, pumpkins, and others members of the genus Cucurbita.

Enter Katharina Ullmann, a graduate student in the Neal Williams lab in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of California, Davis.

She researches them, studying their persistence in agricultural landscapes.

And on Wednesday, June 4, Ullmann will present a seminar on her research: "Squash Bee Persistence in Agricultural Landscapes: the Role of Connectivity and Disturbance" from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall, located off Kleiber Hall Drive. This is the last in the series of spring seminars hosted by the department.

"It is well documented that wild native bees can benefit many crops through increased seed and fruit set, thus providing sustainable pollination alternatives in cases of honey bee decline and increased honey bee rental prices," Ullmann says. "Yet, it is unclear how to best manage crop systems to support wild native bees. Research on enhancing wild native bees has historically focused on field border management. However, to ensure the sustainability of a crop-pollination system, a comprehensive approach should also include within field practices."

"Promoting a whole-farm pollinator management strategy is especially important given that agricultural intensification is associated with practices that negatively impact wild native bees. Whole-farm strategies may provide effective alternatives for growers who are slow to adopt resource-intensive, border-management practices. The proposed project will contribute to our understanding of these strategies by determining the impact of tillage practices and crop rotations on a ground-nesting, native bee that is an important pollinator in a specialty crop system."

Ullmann said that Cucurbita crops (including squash and pumpkin) rely on pollinators to set fruit. "The specialist squash bee, Peponapis pruinosa, is an important pollinator of Cucurbita and can reduce grower reliance on rented honey bee colonies. In-field management is particularly relevant for this species given that it nests preferentially below its host's vines. I will use observational surveys and manipulative experiments to identify crop rotation schemes and tillage practices that benefit P. pruinosa. These results provide insights into how species persist in agricultural landscapes, with an emphasis on the roles of connectivity and disturbance."

Ullmann, who expects to receive her doctorate in entomology in September 2014, researches population persistence in dynamic landscapes, and on-farm beneficial insect habitat enhancements. Her interests also include supporting citizen science, translating research related to pollinator conservation and encouraging dialogue between researchers and farmers.

She developed a native bee YouTube channel aimed at providing a direct line of communication between university researchers, farmers and the general public. In addition, she developed the blog Pollinator Farm and associated social media handles on Twitter and Facebook.

Ullmann's seminar on June 4 is to be video-recorded for later posting on UCTV.

Researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) just published an article in the Journal of Applied Ecology that indicates that blueberry growers who invest in nearby wildflower habitat to attract and support wild bees can increase their crop yields. They're saying that the cost of planting a habitat for wild bees can pay for itself in four years or less.

"Other studies have demonstrated that creating flowering habitat will attract wild bees, and a few have shown that this can increase yields," MSU entomologist and co-author Rufus Isaacs said in a press release. "This is the first paper that demonstrates an economic advantage. This gives us a strong argument to present to farmers that this method works, and it puts money back in their pockets."

"This is HUGE news," said pollination ecologist Neal Williams, associate professor of entomology at UC Davis, who was not involved in the study. "This is the first study to quantify pollination benefit as a result of habitat planting adjacent crops. It also works through the economics of the implementation of the the habitat and accrued economic and yield benefit over time. Fantastic stuff."

This is right up Willilams' alley, er, hedge row. He and his colleagues are exploring the role of wild native bees, honey bees and other managed species as crop pollinators and the effects of landscape composition and local habitat quality on their persistence. His research on pollination spans the disciplines of conservation biology, behavioral ecology and evolution. One of his primary research foci is on sustainable pollination strategies for agriculture. This work is critical given ongoing pressures facing managed honey bees and reported declines in important native pollinators such as bumble bees.

Williams' research has taken him from eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey to California's Central Valley. "A continuing goal is to provide practical information that can be used to improve the long-term stability of pollination for agriculture in California, as well as promote pollinator conservation and management," Williams says. In addition to work in agriculture, he is also studying how habitat restoration affects pollinator communities and pollination.

Regarding the MSU study, the research team planted surrounding bueberry fields with a mix of 15 native perennial wildflowers, hoping to increase the wild bee population and thus improve pollination in the blueberry fields.

And yes, that's exactly what happened.

"In the first two years as the plantings established, we found little to no increase in the number of wild bees," Isaacs related in the press release "After that, though, the number of wild bees was twice as high as those found in our control fields that had no habitat improvements."

To quote from the press release: "Once the wild bees were more abundant, more flowers turned into blueberries, and the blueberries had more seeds and were larger. Based on the results, a two-acre field planted with wildflowers adjacent to a 10-acre field of blueberries boosted yields by 10-20 percent. This translated into more revenue from the field, which can recoup the money from planting wildflowers."

Isaacs was quick to point out that the researchers are not suggesting that growers cease using honey bees for pollination services. But with 420 species of wild bees in Michigan alone, he says, it makes sense to attract the "free" wild bees. Indeed, it does.

This study could have major implications for not only research in California, but nationwide.

So said Senior Extension Associate Maryann Frazier of Penn State when she addressed the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's seminar last Wednesday, April 2 in Briggs Hall.

Frazier, on a trip to California to discuss her research with the Marin County Beekeepers, took time out to travel to the UC Davis campus at the invitation of Master Beekeeper/writer Mea McNeil of the Marin County Beekeepers and associate professor Neal Williams and assistant professor Brian Johnson of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

Frazier, a 25-year extension specialist, expressed concern about the pesticide loads that bees are carrying, as well as the declining population of bees and other pollinators.

Beekeepers, she said, used to be much more concerned about colony collapse disorder (CCD), that mysterious phenomenon characterized by adult honey bees abandoning the hive, leaving the queen bee, brood and food stores behind. CCD surfaced in the winter of 2006, but today, when beekeepers report their winter losses, "they're not blaming CCD any more," she said.

Turning to pesticides, she said a 2007-2010 U.S. analysis of some 1000 samples (wax, bees and flowers) showed "an astonishing average of six pesticides per sample and up to 31 different pesticides per sample." The analysis, done by U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service Lab (USDA/AMS) screened for 171 pesticides at parts per billion. The samples involved a CCD study, apple orchard study, migratory study and submissions from individual beekeepers.

Frazier compared the interaction of pesticides in bees to the interaction of medications in humans. When you go to the doctor, you'll be asked the names of the medications you're taking, she said. The "interaction" situation is similar to what's happening with the honey bees.

In a bee colony, lethal exposures to pesticides are easy to see, Frazier noted. "You'll see dead bees, bees spinning on their backs and bees regurgitating." But the sub-lethal effects can mean "reduced longevity, reduced memory and learning, reduced immune function and poor orientation."

Marin County Beekeepers recently undertook a similar study of pesticide analysis, raising $12,000 to do so ($300 per sample). "Marin is very mindful of pesticides, probably more than any other place," Frazier said. McNeil agreed. The results are pending publication.